What's Inside my Recovery Box?

For those of you who don't know what a recovery box/bag is, a friend of mine, Polly created a project named "The Recovery Bag Project" with the aim to send out bags full of distraction techniques to individuals who suffer from Mental Illness. I was lucky enough to sign up to the project fairly early on and soon received mine in the post. The recovery bags are free but it is suggested that you donate to its fundraising page simply because Polly started by using her own money. Since receiving my bag, I have been constantly adding to it and now have a box full of wonderful distraction techniques - I did have two, but I managed to only keep the bits that I would use. In this post, I am going to share with you some of the things that are inside of my box which help me to resist urges to harm myself.

The first few things that can be found in my recovery box are books. I am a huge book lover but I can't put my favourite books in the box, as I always find myself reaching for them. Therefore I have a few alternatives including:

• Anti-Stress Puzzles by Dr Gareth Moore which is an almost two-hundred paged book with a whole range of different anti-stress and brain training activities suitable for all abilities. I find this book useful as it gives me something to focus on which I feel is important when trying to use distractions.
• How To Be Happy (Or At Least Less Sad) by Lee Crutchley which is a creative, self-help workbook with the aim to not make you happier, but to make you feel less sad. I am so glad that I purchased this book as I love workbooks like this one. I find it really helpful in regards to understanding and recognising your emotions as well as including schedules which can enable you to create goals. I would highly recommend this book if you are creative!
• 14,000 things to be happy about by Barbara Ann Kipper which I was lucky to receive as a present for my birthday. With this book, I like how it isn't the classic type of book. Instead, this book is just a six-hundred page list! With this book, if I am not feeling great then I will just flick through to a random page until I find something that applies to myself an example being "fresh, crisp air and sparkling light."
• The Mindfulness Colouring Book by Emma Farrarons is the final book that can be found inside of my recovery box. This is and anti-stress art therapy "for busy people" and contains a wide range of delicate drawings that can be easily coloured in. This is a fairly small book and therefore can be handy to carry around if you were wanting to. For individuals who like to colour, then this book would be ideal for you.

Next in my box is mostly a range of small activities that don't take up much time or effort. Most of these things came inside my bag but I have also purchased some myself. Some of these includes:

• Sudoku rubix cube
• Pink glittery bouncing ball
• Tissues
• Stressball
• Stickers
• Touchable bubbles
• A personalised photo key-ring set
• Slinky
• Demi Lovato 'Stay Strong' bracelets
• Bouncing Putty
• Tangles
• Packs of Disney cards as well as UNO
• An emergency anxiety kit which contains worry dolls
• Shaped rubbers including Lego bricks and animals
• Lavender 
• Candles 
• Bubbles
• Play-clay
• Stretchy Man
• Elastic Bands
• Henna
• Chinese finger trap
• Balloons
• Hand Sanitiser
• Bubble-wrap
• Nail Polish
• Sweets
• Hand Cream
• Photos
• Letters
• Bathbombs
• Perfume

When creating a recovery bag, the most essential part is finding things that work for you. There is no point in having items in your box that don't help you or that you would never use. Most items in my box can be found in pound stores or online at eBay or Amazon. If you would like anymore information about The Recovery Bag Project then I will link an article about it here. If anybody still doesn't know what to include in their bag, then leave a comment and I will try to help.

To watch my YouTube video, follow this link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPW_aw1VZJI

Thank-you for reading, Tay x